


Amortentia

by Maidenjedi



Category: The Office (US)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-27
Updated: 2011-11-27
Packaged: 2017-10-26 14:17:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/284245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maidenjedi/pseuds/Maidenjedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dwight considers a love potion.  Spoilers through Season 4's "Weight Loss."  References Dwight/Angela, Andy/Angela.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amortentia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sopdetly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sopdetly/gifts).



> "Amortentia" is the name of a powerful love potion mentioned in _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince._

Angela had left the office without even glancing at Dwight, which told him it must have been a good day for Andy. Schrutes have developed the ability to combat nausea by clenching their teeth, and Dwight did just that as he watched Andy rush to the door to hold it open for Angela. Dwight wasn't sure, but Angela's eyes might have narrowed in irritation. He certainly hoped so.

Dwight makes a point of leaving exactly one half hour after Angela and Andy each day. This way, he has enough time to make one last sales call without having it interrupted by Andy's incessant twittering.

Or really, if he were honest (and Schrutes prided themselves on their honesty), Dwight would admit that since Andy's proposal, he's been distracted almost every day, all day. He was confronted with wedding plans wherever he turned, and even when Angela beckoned and they met for an intimate moment in the warehouse, the wedding was foremost in his thoughts. How many more times could he kiss her before she was Angela Bernard? Would he go to the wedding? Would he even be invited? Did he want to be? Could he have Andy knocked off by someone and not get caught?

No one is answering the phone at Rymore & Sons. Dwight is somewhat confused, as Edwin Rymore, Sr. has been a top client for years. Then he hears keys dangling and a throat being cleared.

Jim is smirking and pointing at the clock. It's nearly six, and for the first time Dwight realizes they're the only ones left in the office.

He slams the phone down, ignoring Jim. He gathers his things, and it's dumb luck or fate or the work of Voldemort that he drops his dogeared and bookmarked copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince right in front of Jim.

"Whoa, Dwight. I thought you'd outgrown Potter."

"Not outgrown, Jim. The books are done and I'm rereading this in anticipation of the film." Dwight is amazed he's saying any of this.

"The film? You mean the one Warner Brothers postponed to next summer to maximize profits?"

Dwight shakes his head at Jim. "You don't know everything, Jim. There could be legitimate reasons for postponing the film. Maybe it's safer for all involved if what this film will reveal is withheld from the public awhile longer." He sighs, the sound of a man frustrated by his inferiors. "I must be going."

He reaches for the book, and Jim beats him to it. Now they're engaged in a juvenile round of losers, keepers.

"Come on Halpert, give it here. I want to leave and I need that book!"

Jim is casually flipping through the bookmarks and Dwight is nervous. He makes a grab at it and Jim yanks it out of reach.

"Amortentia? Dwight, what's this? Are you reading up on love potions?"

Dwight's face turns the color of ripe beets and Jim's smirk is so pronounced one might think his face would break from the contortion.

"Give it here."

"Dwight, why would a ladies' man like you need a love potion?" Jim's tone is teasing, but that just gets Dwight's blood up faster.

"GIVE IT HERE!" He lunges at Jim and grabs the book. His superior skills mean that once the tussle is over, he emerges the victor. The book is intact and in his hands. Dwight, however, is on the floor.

Jim is standing with a somewhat dumbfounded expression on his face. He almost looks...concerned, if Dwight had to name it.

"Whoa there, Dwight. I was just kidding. What's going on?"

Dwight knows better than to fall for Jim Halpert's ruse of kind concern, but today he feels defeated. The fight to regain his book zapped him of any remaining energy he might have had to fend off attacks. He needed to eat more protein, apparently.

"What can I say, Jim? I'm sure you know what this is like."

This is the closest Dwight has ever come to admitting his love for Angela, and certainly the only time he's ever compared his situation to Jim's. Or what used to be Jim's, at any rate.

Dwight scrambles to his feet, knowing he looks undignified, and the desire to just walk out the door is potent. Jim's still looking at him, though, the concern now clear and tinged with something else.

Dwight refuses to take Jim's pity.

"Don't do that, Jim. Don't try and make it seem like we have anything in common just because we've both been in love with unavailable women. My...she's not like Pam. This isn't like that." His backpedalling is clumsy, and his face is turning red once again. "It's not like that." Dwight slumps against the reception desk, dropping everything and covering his face with his hands.

Jim sighs and takes his messenger bag off his shoulder. He pulls out his cell phone, types out a text message to someone, and then puts it away. He goes over to the water cooler and fills a cup, gives it to Dwight.

"How long?"

Dwight gulps the water down, crushes the cup. "Forever. It seems like forever."

Jim nods.

"Ever since the night of Toby's going-away party, she keeps...I don't know what she wants. I'm getting mixed signals." Dwight's face twists in a wry grimace. "A flaw in their kind, I guess."

Jim shrugs. "Yeah. I suppose. But Dwight, you know you have options, right? You don't have to put up with this."

It's funny, coming from Jim, the king of passive-aggressive mooning and pining, but Dwight doesn't laugh. Instead he says, "Don't I? I hurt her first. I used to think she was using him. Now...."

She's using me, he thinks but doesn't say.

"Okay. Love potions aren't the answer, though."

Jim's eyes are twinkling, and Dwight has to clench his teeth again when he realizes he even noticed that.

"Maybe not. But that's none of your business, is it, Halpert." He just manages to avoid sounding coarse and rude, mostly because he's not looking at Jim. He pulls together his things, Harry Potter tucked safely away in his bag.

Jim gathers his things, too. His cell phone is vibrating in his pocket and Dwight shrugs as Jim pulls it out and tells whoever it is that he's almost done, he'll call back.

"Listen, Dwight. If you...you know."

"Yeah. Okay."

That half-spoken male understanding will last maybe a week before the pranks and the seething hatred return. But for now Dwight and Jim understand one another.

Later, when Angela pages him, Dwight ignores it and drinks a beer with Mose in the barn.

He stops wondering what ingredients are needed for Amortentia and goes to work well-rested for the first time since May.

\---

The End


End file.
